Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Grace's 1st Birthday Party

Everything went perfectly for Grace’s 1st birthday celebration on Saturday. In the week leading up to it, the weather report had forecast nothing but rainclouds and I was worried that our plans may have had to change to having the party indoors. However despite a chilly start to the day, we had bright blue skies and lots of sunshine.

Following the advice many of you gave me, I tried to organize most details in the week before the party so I had as little to do as possible on the morning itself. All of the decorations were done with little expense and as I enjoy crafty projects, I had great fun making them.

Having seen numerous beautiful dessert tables on the many party blogs I had been browsing recently, I was inspired to put a bit of thought into this part of Grace’s party. I made some polka dot paper garlands to string along the front of the table using details I came across here. This was super easy using a circular punch I borrowed at the local scrapbooking store and then I stitched the shapes together on my sewing machine.

The three pink rice paper lanterns were bought cheaply off eBay from here. They added a nice burst of colour above the food table.

The children’s party favour bags contained a little cellophane packet of chocolates (Freckles) and some bubble mixture. I made the tags on the front and the cute mini pegs were from kikki.K (I had been looking for an excuse to buy these!!)

The ‘vases’ were old jars covered in decorative paper and the flowers were either from my Mother’s Day bunch or our garden.

For the cake table, I made simple polka dot bunting using some left over paper I had in my stash, alphabet stickers and red and white string.

The cake itself was a traditional #1 cake smothered in buttercream frosting and decorated with Smarties. I made the cake a few days before and froze it and then took it out and iced it on the morning of the party. I used the CWA Hi Lite Cake recipe (recommended by both Paul’s aunty and my friend Kylie) and the mixture was perfect. I also made cupcakes (thanks for your tips Karyn – they were delicious) and I made polka dot cake toppers from paper I found at our local craft store.

As a photo display, I used Poladroid to ‘age’ a photo of Grace from each month of her first year which I then re-sized, printed out and hung up. I also had a digital photo frame displaying photos of Grace inside next to the tea and coffee making station I set up.

Grace’s polka dot dress is one I actually bought from Little Styles last year (it is still currently available). I had bought it in a larger size hoping it would be suitable for Christmas this year, but when I settled on the polka dot theme, I decided it would be perfect to use for Grace's birthday instead.

All in all, we had a great morning with a nice number of guests, beautiful weather and yummy treats. Thanks you to everyone who helped us on the day either with food, taking photos or cleaning up and thank you to all my fellow bloggers for all the tips and advice you gave me.

Wow Amanda, Graces party looks so lovely! Pink and green is one of my favourite colour combinations! I love the way you set up the food table it just looks so pretty and special! You did a great job decorating and the cake and food looks delicious. I am gald that it all worked out so well and it looks like Grace had a ball! xx

You did SUCH a fabulous job Amanda!!!! I love every single detail. The dessert table is my fav, it looks like something styled in a magazine the pink lanterns look HOT!I love the gift bags too, so cute. Wow, you're a superstar and Gracie couldn't be any cuter, she's so gorgeous and I'm glad she had a good day too.

Amanda everything looks beautiful all the pink and green, so lovely. It must have been a lot of fun, and grace looks so cute, the photograph with her in front of the cake especially. You have done an amazing job, definetly a few ideas I might have to borrow : ) hope you're having a great week!

It all looks so gorgeous Amanda. I love the photo garland. What a great idea. And little Grace certainly looks as though she knows what to do with the cake. How quickly they grow! My baby is 7 next month. xx

The party was lovely Amanda! The photos look great too! Your decorations looked fabulous - straight out of a magazine and seeing the food all over again makes me hungry! You certainly put a lot of thought and effort into making Grace's 1st Birthday a memorable event for everyone! xx

Wow Amanda, Grace's birthday looks spectacular! I just love the pink and green, and all of your crafty decorations are beautiful!! I am so happy that it all went well and that you were able to enjoy it too:) Your sweet Grace is just the cutest little blossom and she is very lucky to have such a clever and creative Mummy!! Thank you for sharing the photos of Grace's 1st birthday party:) Oh I really loved your polaroid garland too, you clever girl:) Big hugs to you and a little one for your gorgeous Grace ~ Tina xx

It looks like such a beautiful day Amanda, you are truly amazing with all the detail you put in! Everything looks stunning, the garlands, bunting and party favour bags are so cute, but I love all you pictures of Grace the best! What a little angel she is, sitting there in that super cute polka dot dress... The food table looks fabulous, you obviously have a flair for this party decorating thing, as I have seen those displays too, but I don't have a hope of ever recreating them so well. So glad the weather stayed fine for you all, can you keep your fingers crossed for me this weekend, we have a home open, and the rain would be so depressing!Flick xo

What a special day. I have great memories of the birthday parties my mum organised for me when I was little. It made me feel so special all the effort she put into giving me such lovely parties. Grace is a very lucky little girl.

Hi Amanda,Just had a look at Grace's birthday post! I think the colours you chose are great. They go together very well. I love the welcome sign and the garland across the table. Grace's birthday cake is ideal, just perfect for the little birthday girl. i love how you made the party favours too. So glad it all went well for you.Donna xx

Wow Amanda, you did an amazing job! It all looks so lovely! I particularly love the bunting - I really must make some myself. That's a great tip about hiring a punch. And what a sweet cake!ps you might like to enter my giveaway :)

Amanda you did a beautiful job. There was so much attention to detail in all that you did and so much effort it really showed. Little Grace looked so sweet and very happy, I'm so glad the day turned out just the way you wanted it.

Hi Mate, you were of course on the top of my award list, but I saw it had already been passed on to you, so I think you have your hands full already! Your blog always makes me happy, and you are such a sweety always leaving encouraging comments for me... So you get all the awards as far as I'm concerned!Flick xo

I actually made the invitation myself using Microsoft Publisher after playing around with some photos in a photo program to crop them into circles. Let me know if you need any more details about how I made them... x

All of the stuff and the party itself looked so nice. My daughter also just turned 1 last month and we had a simple and cute party for her. We did tent rentals, Bay area is where we held our party and cute little souvenir for the visitors were given.

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About Me

Hi! I’m Amanda from Western Australia - a former primary school teacher now full-time stay-at-home Mum to our two girls, Grace and Sophie. My days are filled with all things homely – cooking, crafting, decorating and of course, life with my husband and our two precious girls.